Leicester City 1-0 Newcastle United
- Published
Leicester City knocked Newcastle United out of the third round of the FA Cup thanks to a Leonardo Ulloa header at the King Power stadium.
The hosts, bottom of the Premier League, went ahead when Ulloa headed home Anthony Knockaert's cross.
He could have doubled Leicester's advantage after the break, but the striker headed wide in front of goal.
Managerless Newcastle were a shadow of the free-flowing team which drew 3-3 with Burnley on New Year's Day.
John Carver was in charge of the Magpies against the Clarets and his reign as interim boss continued on the day former Newcastle manager Alan Pardew was confirmed as Crystal Palace's new boss.
Should he want the top job, Carver will hope for another chance to audition as this was not one of United's finest performances in a match low on quality.
Robbie Savage on BBC Radio 5 live |
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"For Newcastle, this was the only trophy they could possibly have won this season. If John Carver really wanted the managerial job permanently, why didn't he play his strongest team today? Ridiculous decision. It can't always be about avoiding Premier League relegation for Newcastle United." |
The defeat ensures Newcastle's poor record in this competition in recent years continues as they have now failed to reach at least the fifth round for the ninth time in a row.
Both Leicester and Newcastle made seven changes after their respective New Year's Day draws against Liverpool and Burnley.
But for those looking at history rather than the starting line-up, there did not seem to be much hope for Leicester before kick-off as the Foxes had not won any of their last five home games against Newcastle and Foxes manager Nigel Pearson had said the competition was not his priority,
But the hosts should have taken the lead before they did, with forward Tom Lawrence, making his Leicester debut, scuffing his shot wide from 15 yards after Jak Alnwick failed to gather a cross.
Newcastle's Remy Cabella had a beautiful strike disallowed for offside, before Ulloa rose above the Newcastle defence to score off the underside of the crossbar.
The visitors hardly threatened Leicester at the King Power stadium, although they enjoyed plenty of possession, and it was the hosts who went the closest to scoring after the break, only for a superb Alnwick save to prevent Chris Wood netting with a diving header.
Leicester City boss Nigel Pearson: "On the back of two decent results in the league, it was important for us to carry that on.
"The Premier League is the priority but when you get a couple of decent results, on the back of the run we were coming off, it was important to get the result rather than the performance.
"We to utilise our squad, which and gave some players pitch time, a chance to perform, which is going to be important for us going forward."
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